Life's a show
by Dyl01
Summary: redone...less stupid
1. Chapter 1

I don't own sky high or anything, usual disclaimers apply here too.

UPDATED!

Life's a show - Chapter one

Warren Peace opened the door of his home, glad to be back amongst his own things, somewhere he felt safe. Free from being hounded by "The Three", the strongest gang in prison. Warren had decided against taking protection from any man that called him princess. The three weeks he had spent in prison had felt like forever, but now that he was home, his situation didn't feel much better. He would go to school the next day, get all his missed assignments and try to catch up, but that wouldn't help.

He looked at the photo of Will he had by his bedside. Leaving him standing outside the prison hours earlier had been so hard. He had wanted more than anything to let Will hold him, to kiss him the way they used to and pretend the whole thing had never happened. But he couldn't. Will should have believed him, he should have given him a chance. But he didn't even try.

Warren lay down on top of his bed and stared at the ceiling. Maybe he was wrong? He picked up his cell phone and dialed Will's number. After a few rings, Warren sighed and hung up.

"No." he thought "I can't talk to him now... But god I miss him."

He closed his eyes and, knowing he wouldn't be able to sleep, waited for the dawn.

-

The next day, Warren Peace stepped off of his school bus and surveyed the school. It seemed so strange that after all he head been through, the school was exactly the same. Life had gone on as if he had never been there, as if nothing had ever gone wrong. It was unnerving. Principal Powers waited for him at the gates.

"Welcome back Warren!" she greeted warmly "I was so glad to hear the good news."

"Yeah thanks." Warren said gruffly "All the help you gave me was really heartwarming"

"Warren. I realize you feel hard done by. You haven't had an easy time, but you really have to try to see it from our point of view."

"You know what?" He said "I really don't, I'm the one that was falsely imprisoned, abandoned by the only people I had every called friends... by the only man I had ever loved. I don't think I have to do anything."

She smiled grimly and smoothed down the wrinkles on her creme pant suit.

"You're right. Anyway, I just wanted you to know, we're holding a special assembly today. To explain your...circumstances. Not everyone knows what happened, a lot of people still think you are in prison. I imagine it may be a slight shock for some people"

"Nice."

"Yes. Well anyway, its before first period, so don't be late."

"Whatever."

Warren continued walking into the school, away from Principal Powers. Inside Warren was conflicted. He had always liked her, even though he was possibly one of the worst students at Sky High she had never treated him like a lost cause. But when he was convicted, where was she then? Warren walked over to his locker and banged it open, dismissing thoughts of Principal Powers.

Inside his locker made him smile, it was exactly the same, which was quite comforting to Warren. Inside, on the shelf were copies of his favorite books, _The Catcher in the Rye_, _Franny and Zooey _and _1984_. He had longed for these books in prison, to read the hours away with his favorites. Lower down was a stack of CDs he would have to take home and listen to, _The Smashing Pumpkins_, _Bjork_ and a host of others. Along the walls of the locker were posters of people he found attractive, including a big photo of Will. He pulled it down and put it in the back of his mad science text book, somewhere he was sure he wouldn't look. He smiled again, looking in his locker made him feel normal again, if only for a moment.

He closed the door of his locker and walked to the men's room. Nobody else was there. Warren walked over to the basin and stared at the image in the mirror, an image he had made sure he had ignored up until now. The person staring back at him seemed like someone else. His skin was pale, the bags under his eyes made him look a lot older than seventeen, the red streaks in his hair had faded to pink, something Warren vowed to change as soon as possible. The person in the mirror looked tired, and old. Warren stared for another second, before letting out a loud sob. Tears poured down his cheeks as he thought of the past few weeks and of what he had lost.

For the first time in forever, Warren was part of something. He had friends, he was in love and he was actually starting to do better at school. And then it all got ripped away, and for what? Because, yet again, of Barron Battle. Even after his death he was still messing up Warren's life.

Warren ran the cold tap and splashed his face with water. He shut of the tap, dried his face on hand towels and walked out the door, heading to the assembly hall. The door of the stall at the end opened, revealing a confused looking boy.

He stepped out of the stall and went to wash his hands. He too looked in the mirror, but smiled, he liked what he saw. His hair was styled perfectly, blonde, short and spiked at the back, with an extremely long fringe. His eyes were black as the night with so much make up, and his tight black jacket made his slender frame look even smaller. On his legs were tight black jeans, and big black boots covered his feet. He was an emo boy through and through, but he thought it looked hot.

"Oh my Warren Peace, what have you turned into?" He said to himself "You wait babe Parker's gonna sort you out"

-

The school settled down, filling the rows of the assembly hall, whispering excitedly to each other, wondering what new and exciting thing was being announced. Warren stepped in the back quietly and sat waiting. The last time an assembly like this had been called, it had lead to him hooking up with Will. Warren sighed.

"Hey there Peace." Said a voice. Warren looked up and was shocked for a second, the figure in front of him was handsome, to say the least. With his blonde hair and emo clothes. "I'm Parker."

"You know, Parker, I make it a habit to roast the people who bother me." Warren said gruffly, turning back to the front of the hall.

Parker sat down next to Warren.

"Yeah. But I figured you could use a friend."

"Really don't" Warren said.

"Ok..." Parker said slowly "Maybe you could use something else then?"

Warren turned and scowled at Parker. This guy, as handsome as he was, was getting a little annoying. He was far to sure of himself, and that bothered Warren.

"Like what?"

Parker slid his hand up Warren's thigh "Whatever you want babe'

Warren jerked back violently. It took all of his self control not to ignite his arms in rage.

"What the hell was that?" Warren whispered harshly "You do know I was just released from prison, and then broke up with my lover... and also... I'm very unstable."

Parker smiled, he could tell by Warren's reaction that he was flustered.

"Ok hotspot. But if you change your mind, or ya need a little rough and tumble, hit me up ok?" Parker said, and before Warren could reply, he was gone.

Warren sighed and ran his hands through his hair. He was confused. On the one hand, a really hot and kinda exciting guy was hitting on him, but on the other hand, he had only just finished with Will. Will was the only man Warren had ever loved, or had ever been even attracted to. He screwed up his nose and balled his hands.

"Why does everything have to be so confusing?" He thought "Why can't I just be happy or content with myself"

Warren's thoughts were interrupted by a blinding white light. Principal Powers emerged on stage, ready to make her announcement.

"Welcome students." She greeted warmly "I don't want to keep you all here all day, but I do have something very important to tell you."

A quiet murmur went though the students. Principal Powers held up a hand to silence it.

"We were all very upset by the tragedy that struck us recently, with the passing of our good friend, Ethan."

Warren hung his head. Even though he had been cleared, and Ange Fletcher had been arrested, he blamed himself. If only he had done something more, instead of stand there in shock, or fear. Warren knew even though he didn't murder Ethan, he didn't do enough to help him. Warren didn't think about Ethan much, it hurt him too much to even try. He had liked Ethan a lot.

"And I know you have all heard that Warren Peace is to blame."

Warren looked up in shock as a hiss went through the crowd at the sound of his name, many students called out remarks about him, followed by jeering by the others. Principal Powers silenced it yet again,

"However, due to recent discoveries by the Maxville Police Department, Super Crime Sector, they found, Warren was in fact not to blame."

The crowd burst into speech at once, excitedly discussing this with their neighbors. This time principal Powers let it run.

"Warren did not kill Ethan. The real killer has been found, and dealt with. And, in light of this new knowledge, Warren will be rejoining us at Sky High as of today. If I hear that anyone is bothering him about this tragedy, to which he was a witness, they will be suspended immediately. Is that understood?"

-

Warren escaped the crowd quickly, disappearing behind one of the buildings, in the teachers parking lot. He leaned up against one of the walls and lit a cigarette with his finger. He put it to his lips and took a drag. He sighed as he blew the smoke out and closed his eyes.

That had been way too intense for Warren. He knew that this wouldn't be the end of his troubles, but he also knew he could handle himself around the other students.

"Warren?"

It was Will. Warren opened his eyes slowly and frowned at Will, ready to play the part of angry ex and forcing him to ignore the excited feeling in the pit of his stomach. Will look different somehow. A little older, a little less excited and upbeat, but still as handsome as ever,

'What do you want Stronghold?"

"I wanted to give you this." He said, holding out Warren's jacket. Warren took it and slipped it on, covering his bare shoulders. Wearing a vest was perhaps not the best idea when you didn't have your jacket.

"Thanks." Warren said gruffly and took another puff of his cigarette. He offered it to Will, who, to Warren's suprise, accepted.

"What?" Will asked with mock suprise "You don't think I can be bad?"

"Oh no. I remember." Warren said. He instantly regretted it "Will. What are you doing here?"

"What?" Will asked as he passed back Warrens cigarette 'What do you mean?"

"I mean you can't just come here, give me my jacket and pretend like nothing had ever happened. Did you think that we could just pick up where we left off? Cuz honestly I don't know if I'm the same guy anymore... or how I feel about us."

"Warren..."

"We're broken up. Done. This is the part where we ignore each other."

"I don't want to."

"But I do." Warren stubbed out his cigarette " I can't trust you Will. You didn't beleive me, you didn't try. You didn't trust me. I loved you Will. More than I have ever loved anyone."

Warrens words were getting stuck in his throat, tears falling down his face. Will put his hand on Warren's chest.

"I'm sorry."

Warren heated up his chest, burning Will's hand. Will jerked away, shocked.

"Save it. Go back to Layla, or find some new bad boy to make your pet project, find someone else to fix." Warren said.

"Warren please... just give me a chance..."

"And what kind of chance did you give me?" Warren growled "You know... Before I met you, I could handle the fact that everyone hated me, that everyone thought I was a psycho like my dad... but you...you gave me hope, you gave me a reason to live. It's like you picked me out of hell and then when it came time to trust me, you just dropped me back. You just gave me everything and then took it all away again."

They stood silently for a moment, Warren's words hanging in te air.

"I just... I don't know how to come back from that..." Warren said as he turned and walked away, throwing his cigarette onto the grass.

A;N Hey. So...lots of crazyness in my life right now, and I'm a little lost on my current fic, partly cuz of the actual lack of writing anything, and also cuz I accidentally deleted a bunch of files and have no idea where I am anymore. I have had very, very, very limited access to the internet, but hopefully now I have a way to update more regularly...so Im gonna be editing the first few chapters of this fic, cuz I know it didnt go the way I wanted it to, and pretty much everyone didnt like it, but it was good in my head I swear! So, after I have gotten rid of all the horribly badly written parts in here, hopefully I will be back in the sky high swing of things and will be able to write more and finish my current fic, then I might try something else. Let warren and will rest for a bit maybe...

BTW, the last part of this chapter is my favourite of everything I have written, and I feel like what I have added has made it better. I'm just really proud of this exchange between warren and will and I hope you all like it as much as I do.

Love ya's, Dylan Stratus (31/3/08)


	2. Chapter 2

Life's a Show - Chapter Two

"Yo Parker." Warren said as he walked up to the strange new boy in the hallway. Parker was bent over, reaching into the bottom of his locker. He straightened up at the sound of Warren's voice.

"Well hey there Warren, what's up man?" Parker replied. He shut his locker door and pulled down the bottom of his shirt. It was slightly too small, and kept riding up, exposing his stomach slightly.

"I was thinking... still wanna go have some fun?" Warren asked, smirking slightly. Parker opened his mouth slightly and Warren raised his eyebrow suggestively. Parker smiled and ran his hand through his hair.

"Sure man." He moved forward and touched Warren's chest "What made you change your mind?"

Warren looked over to the other side of the corridor, where Will and Layla stood watching him. Will had seen the exchange and looked pained. For a slight moment, Warren wanted to go over and comfort him, but then he remembered. He winked at Will before turning back to Parker.

"Visit from an old friend." He said, and tugged on his jacket. Parker laughed, understanding Warren's meaning. He too looked at Will, who stood scowling at Parker. He giggled and blew Will a kiss, before taking Warren's hand and leading him into the male toilet at the end of the hall.

-

Will watched them enter the toilet and sighed. He turned away to face his locker.

"Will. I'm sorry." Layla said. She rubbed his back "I'm sure Warren only wants to make you jealous. Once he gets over this silly misunderstanding, you guys will be right on track again."

Will turned to face Layla. "You sure about that?"

He slammed his locker door shut with such force that the metallic door broke off of its hinges. He kicked it across the floor.

"Damn it!" He yelled.

"Will. Calm down" Layla said. Today she wore a long green dress and bright pink shoes. "God. I can't imagine how you must be feeling."

"Layla." Will said quietly, almost whispering. "He's right. I should have believed him. But I didn't even listen. He would have done anything for me, but I... I didn't even try to help him."

She rubbed his back again. "Will maybe you sho..." Layla began but was interrupted by a loud bang from down the hallway.

Will turned to look towards the sound. A large chunk of the wall had been knocked out, and, emerging from the hole was a large robotic figure. Within an instant the thing had smashed another hole in the wall next to it. It walked through, into the mad science lab.

Will ran down the hall and through the recently created hole in the wall. A moment later a shirtless Warren ran in after him. They both looked at each other for a moment, before running towards the figure. Will swung a punch at it, but the robot was fast. It dodged effortlessly and swung its arm around to hit Will. The sound it made as he connected with Wills body made Warren cringe. Will sailed through the air, and hit the whiteboard at the front of the room. Warren snarled, enraged. He threw a series of flaming balls at the robot. It easily hit them back at Warren, each one hitting him squarely in the chest. Warren sank to the ground in pain. The robot turned back to face Dr. Medulla, who had been cowering in the corner. He pulled the man up by the collar and held him in the air.

"You have something I need." Its metallic computer voice rang out.

"No. No no no no no." Dr. Medulla whimpered.

The robot reached its hand into Dr. Medulla's lab coat pocket and pulled out a small piece of metal. It then tossed Dr. Medulla across the room, where he landed in a heap on top of Will. It the quickly exited the way it had came.

Warren stood up slowly, groaning slightly as he did. Even though the fire ran within him, evidently it hurt the outside part a lot. He walked over to Will and extended his hand to help him up.

"Thanks." Will said as Warren hauled him to his feet. He looked down at his hand, which was still enclosed in Warrens and marveled at how much bigger Warren's hand was than his. He jerked it away, feeling slightly embarrassed.

"No problem. Any idea what that thing was?" Warren asked

"No, but it got whatever it wanted."

"Yeah. Looks like we might have to wait for him to wake up to find out what though. Never a dull moment huh?"

"It seems that way." Will said glumly. He paused for a moment before saying "So uh. What happened to your shirt?"

Will looked a the ground. He already knew. The tears were building up in his eyes already. The thought of Warren being with someone else made him feel like he would vomit. His heart ached as he wondered how things had ever gotten this way.

"Um. I was just... you know."

"Yeah. Parker's new here right. He seems...ok there isn't anything I can finish that off with that won't be violent." Will said. Warren laughed.

"Do you... are you guys together together?" Will asked.

"No. It's nothing like that.' Warren said. They both remained silent for a moment. Will looked down at his feet, trying not to cry.

"Warren I wish that I..." He began, but was interrupted by Principal Powers entering the room, followed by The Commander and Jetstream, who had been called in immediately. The three adults looked at the two boys for a moment. Principal powers broke the silence, by rushing over to Dr. Medulla. Jetstream ushered her son and Warren out of the room.

Both boys walked into the hallway silently. Hey looked at each other again for a moment, before turning away, and walking in opposite directions.

-

Warren turned away from Will and walked back towards the toilets to collect his shirt and jacket. Parker smiled at him, as he stood in one of he stalls in his tight blue underwear.

"Hey stud." He said "all sorted."

"Get dressed." Warren said gruffly "I'm not interested."

"What!" Parker yelled "what's happened in the last few minutes to make you suddenly... It's him isn't it?"

"I'm sorry." Warren said as he stretched is arms out to put on his shirt "I don't love you. It wouldn't be right."

Warren walked towards the door, leaving Parker staring after him incredulously.

-

AN: I know not a lot happened in this chapter. Ok so Warren almost got a little dirty and the robot thing was lame, but it will be explained in the next chapter, and its not gonna be the new big bad, its more of a minion really.

I dunno. All of this tension between Warren and Will is horrible isn't it? I just wanna type, "and then they kissed and were happy again".. but that's no the story sadly. The actual story is kinda starting to sound familiar. Take away the super powers and make things a little less extreme (RE: Prison) and you got my life...

Love it? hate it? ideas and comments welcomed, so REVIEWS please.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three: "Why wouldn't you?"

Warren walked down the road smiling to himself. The street was lined with large oak trees, and as Warren walked along the road, he thought of the past few weeks. Life had been hard for him, but it had finally dawned on him. It didn't matter. Nothing mattered really. He had given up.

He pulled his long dark hair into a tight ponytail behind his head and walked into The Paper Lantern. It had been weeks since he had walked through the doors, and he knew that he no longer had a job there, but he had to pick up some stuff, and explain to Mrs. Lee. She had employed him to wait tables when he was thirteen and had always been understanding of his behavior. Her husband was a sidekick, so she knew all of the details about Barron Battle and what had happened in Warren's life. She was like a substitute mother to him.

He walked over to the door that led into the kitchen and knocked quietly, suddenly more nervous than he had been a very long time. Mrs. Lee opened the door and smiled warmly at Warren, instantly pulling him into a hug. His nervousness evaporated immediately, as he allowed himself to be comforted. He hadn't been held like this since he was still with Will, and the feeling of another human offering him affection was dizzying.

"Mrs. Lee, I'm real sorry about abandoning my job and everything. I was just... not having a good time, and life went bad. But it's getting better now, really."

"Warren. I was so worried. I had to replace you, you know." She said as she pointed to a small, blonde haired boy who was clearing a booth in the corner.

"I know. I just came to apologize, and get my stuff." He said as he turned to reach for his bag, which was hanging on the same hook he had left it on, on his last shift. "I... I want you to know I've really enjoyed working for you. The Paper Lantern was like a second home to me... I'm gonna miss it here."

"Warren, you're always welcome here." Mrs. Lee said with a large, warm smile. "Before you go, tell me, why do you frown so much? A few months ago, you became a different boy. Happy and smiling. But now... you only frown."

"Uh... It's complicated..."

"Love always is Warren. If it were easy, would we want it so much?"

Warren contemplated this for a moment, and also wondered how she knew it was a love related problem. He sighed and slung his bag over his shoulder.

"Who knows Mrs. Lee..."

"Talk to him Warren. Talk to him and forgive him. In the end, you two belong together."

Warren was shocked "How did you...?"

"I write the fortune cookies Warren. I have a little sight in me. I know some things others do not... also... the girl in green told me."

Warren laughed for a moment, realizing she meant Layla.

"But how?" Warren asked after he had finished laughing "how could I forgive him for what he did. He didn't believe me, sometimes I think he didn't want to even try..."

"Warren, try to look at things from his point of view."

Warren began to disagree, but he couldn't. If he thought about it, he knew Mrs. Lee was right... He knew Will was right to disbelieve him. Warren thought about this for a moment before speaking next.

"So, should I forgive him?" He asked

"Do you still love him?"

"Do I still love him?" Warren asked incredulously. There was a long pause "of course I do. With all of my heart."

"Then why wouldn't you?"

"You're right Mrs. Lee. Thank you!" Warren exclaimed as a smile began to twitch at the corners of his mouth.

"I always am." Mrs. Lee said. She laughed, along with Warren, who, for the first moment in a long time, felt truly relived and comfortable.

He continued to laugh to himself as he walked out of the restaurant, waving to Mrs. Lee behind his back as he went. He stepped out into the cool night air and drew his coat nearer, just as he had months ago while agonizing over Will and his feelings for him. Tonight it was he same, only this time, Warren knew what he was going to do. Tomorrow, he was going to take Will back.

AN: So it took a lot for me to write this, mostly cuz my boyfriend dumped me the other night... in a text message no less. So writing them being happy is hard... but you know, im gonna look at it as a positive, and hope that one day I get a boyfriend like Warren...


	4. Chapter 4

Full disclaimer at bottom.

Chapter Four:

(REVISITED COMPLETELY DIFFERENT AND NOT SUCKTACULAR...or musical... ANYMORE)

Layla grumbled slightly as she rummaged through her bag, attempting to make her books fit in a way that would oth stop them from spilling out all over the place and stabbing her in the thighs with their corners. She had had a long night, laying awake thinking about Will and all the trouble he was having. The look on his face when Will had seen Warren with another guy had broken her heart.

She shut her locker door carefully, trying not to squash any of the flowers that lived inside.

"Layla!" A voice close to her ear said, causing her to jump slightly. She turned, and beind her loomed the slightly alarming figure of Warrn Peace.

"Uh... hey Warren...you um, you remember you're not talking to us anymore right?" She asked, trying to work through the suprise of even seeing him near her.

"Yeah well about that... I kinda need a favour..."

"A favour? From me?"

"Yeah... cuz you know, you're good with flowers... and Will... mostly Will."

Layla smiled warmly. It was obvious to her that Warren was embarressed, not angry.

"You want me to talk to him for you?"

"Not so much... it's probably better if I do the talking myself, but I was wondering if you could help me set something up... on the roof."

"The roof?" Layla thought, the familiar sense of confusion that was attatched to anything Warren related slowly creeping back.

-

"Hey Layla." Will said, slumping into the seat beside her. His shoulders were dropped low and he looked very tired. "Dr. Medulla's still not here?"

"Nah, he's running late... which actually is good for me, since there's something I need to talk to you about."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah... see I have this problem and it's pretty bad... I was kinda hoping I could talk to you about it."

Will frowned, concern spreading across his face. "What's wrong?"

"Uh... it's kinda personal... I um, maybe we should talk about it later... in private."

"Where?"

"Um... lunchtime on the roof?"

-

"Layla... what are we doing here."

"Maj, shhh!" Layla hissed.

"Ok... so I'm just supposed to accept the fact that we are on the roof, hiding in the bushes of the giant garden you made, watching Will for no reason?"

"Yep."

"Layla!" She whispered, nudging her slightly. "Tell me!"

"Something good is gonna happen so just... just hush and wait."

The two girls sat in the bushes and waited for a few minutes and every few moments Majenta would open her mouth to say something, only to be silence by the look Layla kept shooting her. After a few more moments, Will stood up and looked around.

"Come on Layla." he said to himself.

"Sorry..." Said a voice from the stairs, revealing Warren as he reached the top "You're stuck with me."

"Warren..." Will said breathlessly, before regainging some sense of composure "I'm uh... waiting for Layla."

"Nah, you're not. I just asked her to set this up... the garden and everything."

"Why?"

"My very own ex-con attempt at romance..." Warren joked, looking down at his shoes

From the bushes, Majenta leaned in and whispered in Layla's ear "Oh my god!"

"Warren?"

"Look Will..." Warren said as he put his hand on Will's arm, leading him to the bench near by "I... I talked to a friend and... I guess I got a bit of advice... I...I miss you Will."

Layla squeezed Majenta's hand as they watched from the cover of the bushes.

"I miss you too Warren... I'm so sorry."

"I know you are... so am I... We both made mistakes... but I was hoping we could maybe... just try again?" Warren said, looking away as he said it.

Will reached out and took hold of Warren's face, turing it towards him. "There is nothing I could want more."

Warren smiled and put his arm around Will, bringing him closer for a deep kiss.

Majenta leaned back into Layla "Maybe we should leave now" she whispered.

"Yeah..." Layla whispered back as they began to creep towards the stairs, holding in giggles and they saw Warren and Will sliding down onto the ground, lips locked together and hands wandering all over each other.

-

A:N So... thats completely different. I thought seeing it from Layla's POV would be fun and a bit different, especially since I hardly ever switch out from Warren POV. Wanted a cute way to get them back together, and I liked the idea of Warren going to Layla for help... plus hey, nobod sang... :D

Dylan Stratus (31/3/08)


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five (REWRITTEN)

Warren held his arm across Will's chest and pulled him closer towards him, electricity flowing through him as the skin on Will's back made contact with his chest. He sighed as he breathed in the smell of his boyfriends shampoo.

"MY BOYFRIEND!" He thought excitedly, before catching himself and smiling inwardly at how excited this made him.

The two of them lay quietly in his bed, Warren silently thanking whatever god made it possible for Will to fly them home at that point. They had just spent the last few hours getting closer and for the first time in weeks, Warren felt peaceful.

"What are you thinking about baby?" He asked as he stroked Will's hair.

"How lucky I am mostly... but also how stupid I was."

"Baby you weren't... Mrs. Lee talked to me, and...and she made me realize I really didn't give you a chance. I mean... Ethan was killed with my power, and you know my temper..." Warren said, trailing off at the end.

"Yeah, but you know... I should have tried."

"Ok Will, lets not argue about who was more wrong... It's kinda nuts..." Warren said, as he stroked Will's chest and pulled him even closer.

"Warren?"

"Yeah?"

"You and Parker... Did you?"

"No. I couldn't...after seeing you, I just...I couldn't." He said quietly into Will's ear.

-

Meanwhile, in a small and very bare boardroom, a group of professional looking men and women sat at a long wooden table looking ominous. The table was covered in papers, documents and photographs. Around the table sat Principal Powers, Colonel James Hamill of the Hero Army, The president of the United States and Ariel Spears, the chief of police

"I just don't see what you are trying to say colonel?" Said Principal Powers suddenly, breaking the silence. The colonel stood up and walked around the table, silently, while letting out a breath.

"Ms. Powers, all i'm saying is doesn't it seem a little strange that all of these...disturbances... have happened since the death of Barron Battle. The incident with his son and that boy, the large increase in violent crime and petty disturbances, and now this robot attacking the school?."

"Right, but what connection are you trying to make."

Suddenly, the presidents cell phone rang, surprising everyone with a rendition of a Dixie Chicks song as the ring tone. She smiled sheepishly, with a look as if to say "Well he was my opponent at one point". She murmured into it quietly for a moment and then stopped suddenly, a pained and frightened expression on her face. She hung up the phone and looked at the others with a grim expression.

"What's wrong madam president?" Asked Ariel

"It was a distraction."

"What?"

"It appears that the another robot, like the one at Sky High, broke into one of our highest security vaults." She said and sighed wearily, rubbing her temples "and the regeneration formula was stolen."

Silence reigned over the table again, as all four instantly knew the seriousness of the situation.

-

"Well hi Warren!" Josie Stronghold said as she saw Warren Peace walk into the living room of her home. Her husband Steve looked up from his paper in surprise.

"Hey there Warren..." he said slowly "We haven't seen you here for a while."

"Hey Mrs. Stronghold, Mr. Stronghold." Warren said uncomfortably. He knew they had known about him and Will, and after all of the trouble and anguish he had put Will through. He knew they would have their doubts about welcoming him into their home again.

He hadn't even wanted to come, but Will had practically begged him to come home for dinner. And he had given in pretty easily, wanting to spend as much time with Will as possible, making up for all of the time they had wasted being so stupid.

"Warren's gonna stay for dinner. Is that ok mom?" Will said, while intertwining his fingers with Warren's and leaning into his chest.

Josie smiled warmly when she saw this "Sure. You're always welcome here Warren!"

Warren smiled at her. He had liked her a lot before he had been put in jail and it was nice to be able to see her again.

"Well...uh...we're gonna go up to my room and...study."

Steve snorted loudly from his chair, ginning slightly, although he kept his eyes glued to his paper.

"That's good." Josie said, while blushing slightly "It's good to know you two are... Studying together again... Just remember about uh...safe studying..."

"Mom!" Will yelled as he grabbed Warren's hand and yanked him out of the room, leaving Josie looking embarrassed and Steve on the floor, doubled over with laughter.

-

A:N - There... any horrible and badly thought out plot decisions are gone and replaced with some slightly strange plot points, but im fairly sure they will all tie up.

Love ya's

Dylan Stratus (31/3/08)


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six:

"So what do you wanna do?" Warren Peace asked Will as they walked down the street on Friday afternoon. They had both just finished school for the day, and were planning on spending the afternoon together.

"I dunno... I just wanna spend some time hanging out with you babe."

"Aww, you're such a pansy Will." Warren said, punching Will on the arm.

Will smiled, and leaned into Warren, causing them to zig zag along the street slightly. Warren held his arm across Will's shoulders and squeezed hard every time somebody turned to stare. They were in part of the busy part of town and it was really the first time they had been out together. Will was excited, getting to finally act like a real couple, so Warren knew how much it hurt him every time somebody was shocked or disgusted by them. He knew Will didn't understand why they felt that way, and it hurt him to think of people looking at Will that way, he was so innocent and he wanted to destroy anyone who took any of that innocence away.

"Let's go to the mall!" Will said excitedly. He looked up at Warren's cringing face and smiled brightly "Aww, come on Peace, it'll be fun. We can go shopping, and have smoothies and then sit and glare at people, pretending to be tough teens without any morals."

Warren stopped in the middle of the street and looked at Will. He chuckled slightly and shook his head.

"What?" Will said slowly, a grin spreading across his face.

"You are so amazing, you know that?.. a little insane, but amazing."

"Yeah, I know." Will said "And I'm great in the sack."

"Oh and modest, can't forget that." Warren replied playfully. He smacked Will lightly on the ass as they continued to walk down the road, giggling and shoving each other lightly.

As they drew nearer to the mall, they were both surprised to see Principal Powers coming out of a large, indistinct building, carrying an arm load of papers and looking extremely flustered.

"Afternoon Principal Powers." Will said warmly. She stopped and looked at the boys, trying to regain some sense of composure.

"Oh hello boys. It's nice to see you together again." She said, while beginning to move away from them

"Yeah, it's nice to be together again." Will said. Warren stood behind him silently, clutching him protectively. He hadn't exactly forgiven Principal Powers for not helping him. He had always looked up to her, and every time he was in trouble, she helped. He had trusted her and she had let him down.

'Well, uh..." She said hurriedly "I have to go." And with that she raced down the street.

"Well that was weird." Will said, sounding slightly concerned. Warren leaned down and nuzzled into Will's neck, silently telling him not to worry about it. Will sighed and pulled away.

"Not here!" He said, while giggling softly "Anyway, we are going shopping!"

Warren rolled his eyes, but allowed himself to be dragged into a near by store.

-

Layla took off her gardening gloves and stood up, brushing the dirt off of her knees. She smiled down at the bright yellow flower she had just planted at the end of her garden.

"Nice." said a deep male voice from in front of her. She looked up at him immediately, startled by the sudden sound breaking her train of thought. "They're really pretty...I'm Scott by the way."

"Layla." she said and smiled at him "You...like flowers?"

"Well," He began, blushing slightly "I needed something to say to you... and I know you like plants."

"How?" she said while wrinkling her nose in confusion.

"Sorry?"

"You said you know I like plants... how?"

He looked embarrassed. "I uh..." he said and leaned forward to whisper "I go to sky high.."

"Oh. I've never seen you there." She said "What track are you on?"

"Hero."

"Oh. I'm hero support."

"So uh, you wanna hero support me to a movie some time." He said. He then rolled his eyes and blushed.

"Wow, what an insane line." Layla said while giggling softly. She blushed, not used to be asked out on dates, ever since Will left her "But, yeah, I'd love to"

-

"Will, I'm really not sure about this." Warren called out from the inside of a changing room. They were in the mall still, and after being bugged by Will for half an hour, Warren finally agreed to try on some clothes, but what Will had picked out really wasn't what he had in mind.

"Come on baby, come out!" Will called from the other side of the door.

Warren came out of the stall and rolled his eyes "I look like a...I don't know what."

Will smiled and the young female sales assistant helping them giggled quietly. In front of them, Warren stood in a tight pink Ralph Lauren shirt and smart black dress pants. He fidgeted uncomfortably, before disappearing back into the stalls.

"Will, come on, I look like a princess or something."

Will burst out laughing, taking a long moment to recover "Naw, you look really hot War!" He said, barely stifling out a laugh. "I'll tell you what, you let me get ya this, and then we can go into one of your stores and you can make me try on something you choose."

"Really?"

"Sure, leather and bondage all the way."

There was a silence for a moment as Warren thought this over.

"Ok!" he said, and came out of the stall again, grinning broadly.

-

"So you have it then?" said a slow, quiet voice from the centre of a pitch black room. His minion, Jinx, bowed low to the ground.

"Yes master, we have the regeneration ray in our possession. We only need to gather a few more items for..."

"God damn it Jinx!" the voice boomed "You said it would be ready! You and all those science types...you promised me it would be soon!"

"It will master, it will be soon, I promise you." he said, getting even closer to the ground, his face only inches from the floor. Jinx was an attractive man, tall and strong, but even he feared his master. He wasn't stupid and he knew better than to annoy him any further. He also knew that he had to hurry. Jinx ran the research team who were working on the regeneration ray, so he knew it was his neck on the line. And this was a line he wanted to be well away from.

"Good. So tell me more about what you need..."

-

A:N: hey. so this took a while for many reasons. Im a little uncertain to where im going with this. Also, I've been having personal difficulties, working 46 hour weeks, and looking for a new place/job in the city, and also a new boyfriend would be nice.

but on the plus side, im getting my hair dyed tommorow, just like... guess!


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

"They're staring at me Will." Warren Peace mumbled to his boyfriend from the corner of his mouth. He let his long dark hair fall in front of his eyes, shielding him from the furtive glances of his peers. He shifted uncomfortably and pulled at the bottom of his shirt.

"It's because you look really sexy Warren." Will whispered into his ear. He linked his fingers through Warren's and squeezed his hand tightly. Warren was wearing some of the clothes they had bought the day before. He walked the halls of Sky High in tan cargo pants and a tight button down white shirt. As they reached Will's locker, they smiled at their waiting friends. Majenta and Layla stood in front of Wills locker, clutching their books and staring at Warren with their mouths wide open. Majenta immediately burst into a fit of giggles, which sent Layla off as well.

"I swear to god Will, if I didn't love ya, I would roast you for this." Warren growled.

'I'm sorry Warren!" Layla said in between giggles "It's just so different...like "Evil Ken doll"

Warrens fist flamed up momentarily, but he extinguished in and put it behind his back before Layla saw his silent threat. He had vowed to be a little less angry with everyone and try to fit in a little more.

"Guy's, I kinda wanted to talk to you about something." Will said quietly, leaning into his friends, aware of the many eyes and ears in the hallway "I think something weird is going on."

"Should I call Scooby?" Majenta asked as she rolled her eyes.

"I'm serious. Warren and me saw Principal Powers on the way to the mall yesterday. And when you think about it, all of the staff have been acting pretty weird since the incident with the crazy smashy robot thing."

"So what are you saying Will?" Layla asked, sounding as concerned as ever. Will smiled slightly, briefly thinking on how Layla was always on his side. She really was the best friend a guy could want.

"I don't know... I'm just saying something's up... Or at least I think something might be... and I think we should be ready for whatever happens."

"Why us?" Warren said.

"Cuz... things always seem to happen to us... Our group has the classic _Buffy_ disorder of friendship."

The three teens looked at Will in confusion.

"You know, drama and pain, followed by small normal moments, and then more craziness..." Will said slowly "Ok... so that probably wasn't the best metaphor I could have used but, you get the idea"

Warren nuzzled against Will's neck and wrapped his arms around Will's waist "You're so weird..."

He held Will tighter and sighed in amazement. He looked around the hallways, and other than a few small glances, the other students were mostly ignoring their display of affection. In some ways, Warren found it so hard to believe how much their lives had changed in such a short amount of time. And now, as happy as he was, he couldn't deny the truth to what Will was saying. Something weird was going on, and like Will, he knew eventually it would catch up with them. He also knew he was gonna be ready for whatever came there way. He had been working out a lot more since he no longer had a job to go to, and he was beginning to notice the difference in his body. His already impressive muscles were getting larger, and his speed and agility had been improving, but he knew it wasn't enough. He needed to be trained.

"Hello? Earth to hottie?" Will said, waving his hand in front of Warren's face "you ok in there?"

"Huh? Oh... yeah." Warren mumbled "just thinking. What did I miss?"

"The five of us, movie night, my house, Friday." Will said

"Um... the six of us actually." Layla said meekly. She instantly began to blush "I have a friend... if that's ok..."

"Sure!" Will said, smiling broadly at the thought of Layla brining a boyfriend over. "Anyone I know?"

"No. But someone cool, who you're gonna like." she said "ok...class time!"

The four friends laughed slightly and departed for their classes.

-

"It's ready then?" The master asked from the darkest corner of his lair. Jinks shuddered as his bosses voice reached his ears. Evil dripped from each word he spoke, and it made Jinks feel sick. He hadn't wanted to be an evil henchman. Oh no. When Jimmy "Jinks" Everton was younger, he wanted nothing more than to direct films. But, films need funding, so he turned to crime, and before he knew it, he was in too deep. He was owned by his master now, and he knew that he would never be free.

"Yes sir, everything is prepared. Should I start the regeneration process?"

"No. No thank you Jinks. I want to tease our boy a little first."

"Are you sure that's wise master? They are already suspicious."

A hand reached out of the darkness and slapped Jinks hard across the face. He fell back to the ground, blood trickling from his nose.

"NEVER question me!" The voice roared "You may never speak to me in that way!"

"Forgive me sir. I just want this to be a success as much as you do."

"I know you do baby. That's why you're my favorite." He said, while reaching out to stroke Jink's face. He backed away from the hand slightly. Jinks was afraid, his masters extreme mood swings were a sure sign of his insanity.

"Thank you master."

"You're welcome Jinksie. Now, run a long and take this message to our hero." He said. A moment later, a box was kicked along the ground, labeled clearly with the name, Warren Peace.

-

A:N -- meh, im having extreme writers block here... its not going well. Support very welcome...Should I even bother to write anymore? Im not sure if there is any quality to this anymore...


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

"Bye baby." Will said as he stood on the tips of his toes, leaning up to plant a kiss on the eager mouth of his lover. He smiled and ran a hand through Warren's hair, letting his fingers curl within the dark forest that framed his face. "And by the way, you really did look hot today."

Warren backed away in mock disbelief "You mean... I don't look hot everyday?"

Will punched Warren on the arm, softly, but hard enough to make him wince slightly. He then began to fly up towards the clouds, blowing a kiss back down to Warren as he rose higher, until he was fully out of sight.

Warren opened the door of his home and threw his backpack onto the floor next to the door. He slammed it behind him, as a force of habit and then walked upstairs into his bedroom. He unbuttoned the shirt and pulled off the pants that had distracted everyone so much. It seemed strange to Warren, the reaction the others had had over the change in style. Even though he was the same guy, they looked at him slightly differently. Even his teachers seemed to give him a little more slack than usual.

He walked into his bathroom, and looked into the full length wall mirror, smiling at what he saw. Stripped down to his tight black boxers, Warren saw that he really was becoming an attractive guy. His muscles bulged slightly as he stretched and flexed, mocking the poses of professional body builders.

"No time for this though Peace." He said to himself. He gave his reflection one last look, along with a wink, and then walked back to his bedroom. He pulled on a pair of black sweatpants, a black vest, and tied his hair back, away from his eyes.

He knew something was coming for him, or for the others and he wasn't going to let anything happen to the rest of them. He k new that he needed to train hard, harder than he could by himself or at school. At first, he had considered going to Will's mom for help. After all, Jetstream was one of the strongest women alive, and she had mastered all kinda of combat. But, he didn't want Will to know, so he decided to use the one card he never thought he would need to play. Mrs. Lee had once told him the legend of the chosen, a race of warriors stronger than any others. Once, they had been mighty and powerful, but now, only a few remained. Amongst them, Jen Lee, Mrs. Lee's granddaughter.

Jennifer Lee, Jen to her grandmother, was the strongest woman alive, without a doubt. The last born in the line of the chosen, she held more power than any woman on the planet, and with the exception of the commander, probably any man as well.

He had spoken with Mrs. Lee already, and she had gotten Jen to agree to train him. They were family at the Paper Lantern, so Jen had readily agreed to help Warren. As he left through the front door of his home, a knot of nervousness tightened in his stomach.

-

She had arranged to meet him in a secluded area of woodland on the outskirts of Maxville. He parted the trees in his way, and found Jen sitting on the ground, her legs crossed, eyes closed and her chest rising and falling with the steady rhythm of her breathing. He waited silently for her to open her eyes.

"Hello Warren." She said, without stirring. Her eyes remained closed.

"Hello."

"What is it you came here for?"

Warren shifted uncomfortably "I want to train from you. I know how strong you are... I need to get that strong."

"Why?" she asked simply, still remaining almost motionless. Warren couldn't help but notice how beautiful the young warrior was. She was what would probably be called petite. At only 5''4' she was tiny, almost child like, but there was no mistaking her power. Her long black hair flowed freely down past her shoulders, blowing gently in the breeze.

"Something is coming. I don't know what... only that I'm not strong enough to stop it." He said quietly.

"I know. I feel it too." she said. Her eyes flicked open quickly, and suddenly her whole personality seemed to change in an instant. Warren no longer saw her as a cold and determined warrior, but, in her eyes, he saw just a girl. "So come on then, show me what ya got."

She kicked out her legs suddenly, launching herself from a sitting position to standing directly in front of Warren. He towered over her tiny frame, but she showed no signs of fear. Warren reached out to punch her, but before he had realized, Jen had grabbed his fist and used it to twist his arm. Warren turned instinctively, allowing her to twist his arm even harder behind his back. She kicked at the back of his right knee, causing Warren to drop to the ground. All of this had happened in only a slight moment.

"Crap." She said , releasing Warren and shoving him to the ground. She flicked her hair girlishly and smiled "We have a whole lot of work ahead of us..."

-

A:N: yeah, a short one, but I have the flu so im all blocked up right now. But, I know if I stop writing for too long... it will be a long time before the next update. Thanks for all the support and encouragement, It helps.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine:

Layla closed her locker carefully, to avoid crushing any of the delicate petals of the many flowers she hand decorated the inside with. She hoisted her shoulder bag up from the ground and around her shoulders and headed off to class. Just as she reached the door of her first class of the day, she heard her name being called from down the hallway. When she turned around to see who was calling, she smiled as she saw Scott, running towards her quickly. He slowed down as he reached her and stopped to breath for a moment, but all the while smiling broadly at her. He ran a hand through his short brown hair and looked at Layla for a moment.

"Hey Scott." She said brightly, as usual. Even though it was still pretty early in the day, and most other students were walking the halls only half-awake, Layla was chirpy as usual. Ever since she was a small child, she had been bursting with energy every morning.

"Hey Lay-lay!" He said, in a mock hip-hop voice, as he waved his hand in a supposed gang signal. Looking towards Layla's frown he quickly added "Also, I'm never going to do that again..."

She smiled and sighed with exaggerated relief "Phew, cuz you sounded a lot like Zach...and there's a reason there isn't two of him in the world."

Scott laughed "Yeah... I kinda watched "Honey" last night... all the urban cliches really got to me."

"So what's up?" She asked

"I uh... Just wanted to tell you I'm really excited about meeting your friends tonight, but nervous as well."

"Nervous?"

"Well, is it true you're friends with Warren Peace?" He asked quietly, as if saying it too loud would make Warren come up behind him.

"Oh Warren?" She said, barely stifling back a laugh "Yeah, we're friends, but he's a sweetie really. It's defiantly Majenta I would be concerned with."

They both laughed together and Scott was visibly relieved.

"Also, I wanted to give you this." He said, as he reached into the pocket of his baggy skater jeans. He pulled out a bright pink yoyo. "See, I wanted to give ya something, and a yoyo is the only gift that adds no pressure to relationships."

Inside, Layla could feel her heart bursting. She smiled so much she was certain she must looked like a fool, but she didn't care. At that moment, Layla knew that Scott was a nice guy. She took the yoyo from his hand and smiled sweetly at him.

"Thank you, I love it." She said, and sincerely meant it.

"It's nothing..."

"No it is, it's sweet... A little peculiar, but in a good way."

Layla leaned up and kissed him softly on the lips, for only a moment. As she pulled away he blushed an intense shade of red. Layla put her hand in his, blushing almost as much as Scott, and both unaware that only a few feet away, Majenta and Zach hid behind a locker listening to every word. They looked at each other, suppressing giggles.

"It's sweet...In a Brady bunch kinda way." Majenta said as she rolled her eyes and studied one of her painted purple fingernails. After a moment, when Zach didn't reply she looked up to see him staring at her in exasperation, an emotion he rarely displayed "what?"

"You never do anything like that for me." He whined. "We've been dating for months now, and I don't know about you, but I'm a little jealous of that."

"Oh my god, did your mom let you watch "Dr. Phil" again?" Majenta said in her usual uninterested voice. She went back to examining her nails and ignoring the other students that rushed to class, already slightly late. It wasn't that Majenta didn't like school, she just didn't have the same "too much sugar" enthusiasm to it.

"Maj, I'm serious. You haven't even met my mom." He said, aware of how he sounded, but not really caring. Zach had grown up with only his mother, and throughout his life, she had shown him countless romantic movies, that showed grand gestures of love and affection. He didn't expect constant affection, but anything from Majenta would be nice.

She looked at him for a second, with a steely glare. After a long pause, she sighed loudly, rolled her eyes again and grabbed Zach's arm.

"Fine. I'll come to dinner or whatever..." she said as she pulled him toward class, immediately imagining all of the ways dinner with the family could go horribly wrong.

-

"You kids be good now!" Josie Stronghold called as she and her husband slid down the fireman poles into the secret sanctum, ready to change and go to an important meeting with the United Nations. After they were certain they had gone, Will and Warren opened a couple of beers Warren had brought over had flicked on the TV, waiting for the others to arrive. Will took a long sip of beer and looked up at Warren. He sighed and laughed as he felt a familiar stirring in his jeans.

If he had thought Warren looked hot in the dress pants and shirt, then the way he looked tonight was amazing. Warren sat sprawled on the couch, his heavy black boots resting on the table, tight black leather clung to his legs, giving Will a nice show in the crotch department. A tight black vest was all he wore as a shirt, exposing his now large muscles. It was warm enough in the house for this kind of clothing. His long back hair was a mess, just the way Will liked it.

"Will, quit staring at me." Warren said playfully, as he rubbed his chest in mock seductiveness.

"Do ya think we could call the others to cancel?" Will said, as he straddled Warren's waist. "We could tell them that something...came up."

Warren grinned, licked Will's neck and then lifted him off of his waist awkwardly "Sorry Will, no can do."

Will looked puzzled. In all of the time they had been together, Warren had never shied away from the more physical side of their relationship. In fact, at times, even Will didn't have the energy to keep up with him. Will immediately began to worry. Had he done something wrong? Was there somebody else?

As if reading his mind, Warren laughed, put his arm around Will's shoulders and pulled him roughly into his chest.

"It's nothing bad, Captain Hormones." Warren said. "It's just, tonight's important to Layla I think."

Will nuzzled into Warrens neck. The fact that Warren knew this and the fact that Warren thought of Wills friends as his own made him happy. He had always been slightly worried that Warren felt out of place, mostly because, when the group was together, he seemed that way. As well as being from a very different background to the rest of them, Warren had a maturity that separated him from the others. But, hearing this made Will feel more at ease.

"You. Are. So. Sweet!" Will said, punctuating each word with a small kiss on the lips. "Next time we're alone, you're getting a special treat."

"Like what?" Warren asked eagerly "Costumes?"

Will punched Warren on the arm lightly. Suddenly there was the sound of the doorbell ringing and the sound of the others talking loudly at the door.

"Guess you'll just have to wait and see!" Will said. He winked at Warren and walked over to open the door. As he opened the door, he was greeted by Zach, Majenta, Layla and a very handsome guy he presumed was Scott.

"Hi." Will said, while extending his hand to Scott "I'm Will. Layla's best friend."

"I'm Scott." He said and grasped Will's hand tightly, surprising him with the firmness of his grip. "Good to meet you."

Will gestured for them to come in, and they wasted no time in walking into the living room and setting up the movies. Warren stood up, and when Scott came near, it was clear how much taller the fire starter was. Warren looked down at Scott, and after an encouraging look from Will and an almost pleading look from Layla, he smiled.

"I'm Warren, Will's boyfriend." He said, inwardly smiling at feeling so free to say those words. He raised a hand in a lazy wave and sat back down.

"H..Hey Warren." Scott said, and after Warren sat, he seemed to relax again. He sat down on the other end of the couch, and Layla sat next to him, snuggling her head into his chest.

-

Later that night, the gang lay in various positions on the floor of the Stronghold living room. Around them were several packets of popcorn, cans of soda and around Warren were more than a few empty bottles of beer.

The group laughed as they watched one of the comedies Zach had brought over and they were all having a good time, but inside, Warren felt his stomach tie in knots. The last time they had had a night like this, just a simple night of having fun and watching dumb movies, Ethan had died. No, Ethan was killed. Warren was past blaming himself for what happened. He knew there was nothing he could have done to prevent it, but he still felt awful.

He stood up suddenly, ignoring the others turning to look at him and walked out of the house, slamming the door behind him. Will stood up quickly and made for the door, but Majenta was right behind him. She grabbed Will's arm. He turned around in surprise.

"Let me." She said simply "I know what this is about."

Will looked at her dumbly for a moment, but then nodded and went and sat down again, looking worried. Layla moved over and wrapped her arm around him.

-

As Majenta stepped outside, she was surprised to see Warren sitting on the step leading to the Stronghold's front door, sobbing quietly to himself. She sat down next to him and sat quietly for a long moment. She had no idea what to say, as she and Warren had never really connected that well. However, both of them were slightly anti-social, which made them a lot closer.

"Warren..."

"You know, by being out here right now, you're in serious danger of being destroyed."

"Oh please." She said, rolling her eyes in true Majenta style "like you could take me."

Warren looked at her and laughed slightly, causing the remaining tears to fall down his cheeks. She looked at him sympathetically and nodded. They both knew what the other was thinking, and didn't need any words.

"Tell anyone I cried and..."

" I get all toasted?" She finished for him.

"Exactly. You guys all know me so well now." He said, while standing up, and looking back at the house. Majenta stood up next to him. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into a hug. Majenta's eyes widened in shock, and within a second, she was shape shifting. Warren looked down, and instead of seeing a rather angry little guinea pig, standing before him was a small purple cat.

Majenta morphed back into her human form and panted for breath. Her mind was racing. The shock from having Warren Peace be nice to her had bade her use her powers. But how had they changed. Warren stepped back and Majenta was relieved to see he looked just as surprised as she felt, which at least meant it had actually happened.

"So... That was weird." She said.

-

The next morning, Warren's head was pounding. He opened his eyes, but immediately shut them again.

"Too bright!" He whispered urgently to Will, who sat cross-legged on the floor, while Warren was lying fully across the couch. He opened his eyes again and was surprised to see the house tidy and that the others had gone. He glanced at the clock to see that it was early afternoon.

"I wondered when you would wake up." Will said, taking hold of Warren's hand "you ok?"

'Sure." Warren replied quietly. "But beer bad. Also, seeing Majenta turn into a cat the first time was cool... but for the rest of the night... well it lost it's effect eventually..."

"So, what was up last night?" Will asked. He sat down next to Warren and squeezed his hand gently.

Warren sighed. He hated lying to Will, but he didn't want to worry him. Also, being upset and fragile was not part of Warren's character, and he didn't want Will to start imagining him that way.

"Oh nothing... Just me being moody as usual." He said, while standing. He turned to face Will, leaned down and kissed him softly on the cheek and then headed towards the door.

"You're leaving already?" Will asked quietly

"Yeah... I'm still really tired, and grumpy cuz of my headache..."

-

Warren saw the box before he even reached the front door of his home. He walked over to it, eyeing it cautiously. The box was long and black, beautifully covered in an intricate carving. He sat down on the step and opened the box slowly. Inside was a long and beautiful sword.

Warren pulled the sword from the box and examined it in the sunlight, only slightly aware of how odd and threatening it would look to somebody passing by the house. Attached to the inside of the box was a small, folded piece of paper. Warren put down the sword and unfolded the paper slowly; afraid of what he would find inside.

On the inside of the paper was one simple sentence, explaining the sword. This sentence disturbed him more than any other part of this.

"Practice, you'll be needing it soon."

A:N

Yeah. Hoping this is good. Also, expanding on Majenta power is cool. I can't really leave them with the ones they have... since Zach and Majenta have kinda crappy powers. Hope y'all enjoy!


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten:

The punch came so close to Warren's face that he felt a rush of warm air graze his cheek. He dropped to his knees, rolled along the ground until he was sitting on the soft grass. He swung one of his legs out, smiling as it connected with the back of Jen's knees, bringing her crashing sharply down to the ground. He looked up at her through a curtain of black hair and grinned. It had been two weeks since the night he found the sword, and since then, he had been practicing with Jen at every opportunity. And it was really paying off. Today was the first time Warren had brought Jen down. They had also been practicing with swords, but Warren was definitely more adept at hand to hand combat. She rose to her feet again, prompting Warren to do the same. Suddenly, she picked up the two swords from the ground behind her, tossed one to Warren and instantly launched into an attack.

"Good Warren." Jen said, while panting slightly "these sparring sessions is becoming quite a work out!"

"You really think I'm getting better?"

"Oh yeah. I'm actually feeling a little tired." she said, but upon seeing Warren's grin she added "just a little though"

She swung her sword, grinning as it connected with his

"So Warren." She said casually "Tell me all about you."

Warren laughed. It always surprised him the way Jen could turn from cold and ruthless warrior to bubbly cheerleader type in a moment.

"Not much to tell."

"There must be." She said 'Or my grandmother wouldn't always be so worried about you!"

"Um, well, my life story is pretty short. Mom's a hero, Dad's a villain, Dad went to jail, broke out and killed my Mom...then I killed him"

"Oh..." she said quietly, looking at the ground. She looked up and smiled suddenly "Got a girlfriend?"

"No, really no." He said while laughing "Boyfriend though... the best kind."

"Boyfriend?" Jen squealed "Wow, you don't seem like ..."

"Gay?"

"Yeah..." She said, suddenly blushing intensely. "What I mean is..."

"I know what you mean... It was a shock to me too, but Will is amazing... so I'm happy..."

"oh...cool."

They walked in silence for the rest of the trip into town, both lost in their own thoughts.

-

"Very good Majenta!" exclaimed Heidi Bridges, teacher of Sky High's most popular class. She taught the students how to better control their powers, and how to expand upon them. Ms. Bridges was the youngest teacher at Sky High, and was like a friend to all of the students. She smiled at Majenta as she transformed back from a kitten, into a person. Majenta beamed at her, obviously pleased to have made such an improvement. As the other students crowded around Majenta, watching her change from human to kitten, Zach hung back , watching silently.

He was happy for his girlfriend, but at the same time he couldn't help feeling a pang of jealousy every time she showed off her new power. All of his friends powers had definitely grown, and Zach couldn't help feeling maybe glowing wasn't as cool as he had first expected.

"It's hard isn't it?" Said a quiet voice in his ear. Zach's head whipped around to reveal Parker standing behind him, smiling gently. He pushed his blond fringe out of his eyes, and ran his hands through the blue of the rest of his hair. "All around you... their getting better."

"Yeah..." Zach mumbled, running his hands through his short blonde hair.

"I can help you with that you know." He said slickly, moving around Zach slowly, placing himself between Zach and the others.

Zach paused for a moment. He was very unsure of Parker, and whether or not to trust him. But, the urge to improve upon his powers and to impress his friends was greater than his sense of logic.

"How?"

"I have a friend who specializes in this sort of thing. If you come with me sometime, he can help you too."

"When?" Zach asked without waiting for a moment. He was interested.

Parker smiled quietly to himself and thought "That was almost too easy"

-

Will flew into the air, narrowly dodging a ball of fire. He smiled hugely, despite the danger of the situation he was in. This was it, his moment. Will had accompanied his parents to catch a dangerous unnamed criminal, and now, in mid battle, he felt amazing. The criminal they were trying to stop had been in the middle of an extremely large scale jewelry heist, and since The Commander and Jetstream thought it would be a fairly simple arrest, they had allowed Will to come along.

What they hadn't counted on was the criminal being another super. And Will had been even more surprised when he had shared the same power as his lover.

Will looked across at his mother who was also flying high above the scene, then down at his father, who was on the ground, almost face to face with the criminal. Jetstream held up four digits on her left hand, signaling to the others to prepare for one of the few maneuvers they had practiced. Will nodded and immediately began to fly downwards towards The Commander, mirroring the moves of Jetstream precisely. As they neared The Commander, he grabbed hold of one of his arms, as his mother grabbed the other. They used the force of their speedy descent to launch The Commander into the mysterious fire wielders chest, causing him to fly across the alleyway, becoming unconscious as his head hit the concrete floor.

Jetstream ran over to him, tied his hands behind his back and checked for his pulse, as her husband and son patted each other on the back.

-

The next morning, Will walked slowly down the path towards Warren's home. He stopped at the mailbox, pulled out the Saturday morning paper and walked to the door. He raised his hand to knock on the large oak door, but stopped before he lay his hand on the wood. He grinned devilishly and reached for the handle. The door was unlocked, showing that Warren really wasn't afraid of anything. Will closed the door silently behind him, although he really didn't have to try hard, as loud punk music drifted down from Warren's bedroom. He began to walk to Warren's room, checking himself in the hallway mirror as he did. He giggled quietly, looking at his reflection. His hair was a mess, and he was wearing only his pajamas. He had flown over to Warren's house as soon as he had woken up, excited about telling his boyfriend about the events of the night before.

He crept up the stairs, and opened Warren's bedroom door. Inside, Warren was lying on his bed, his head buried deep under the covers. Will leapt into the air and landed right on top of Warren, who yelped loudly, scrambling to get out of the bed. Will jumped to the other side of the room, narrowly avoiding Warrens swinging fists.

After a long moment, both boys had calmed down, and Warren walked silently to the stereo, switching off the loud music. The silence in the room was stifling, broken only by Will beginning to giggle. Warren continued to frown at him for a moment, before breaking into a big grin. He walked over to Will, scooped him up in his arms and moved him over to the bed, smiling at the way Will blushed. He had just noticed Warrens nakedness.

'What did you except, pajamas?" Warren asked slyly. " like you?"

Will pulled Warren down onto the bed and into an embrace. He kissed along Warrens neck, stopping to bite lightly every few moments. His hands wandered along Warren's back, his fingers dancing across Warren's muscles. Warren shuddered in pleasure and growled loudly, before returning Will's kisses more forcefully than ever before.

Will giggled again, and vowed to tell Warren what had happened...right after.

-

AN: That took so long to get out lol. I was having some issues, mostly with my boss and job and stuff, but its all good now and hopefully I will have more time to write. Also, yay, I finally worked out myspace. Y'all should check it out, theres a link on my homepage. My pics are super cute lol, but I font have my Warren hair anymore.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven:

"That's really cool baby." Warren said as he wiped a wet sponge across Will's shoulders. He leaned back against he edge of the tub and sighed as the warm water swirled around him. Will sat between his legs, leaning back onto his chest. He snuggled his face into Warren's chest and took hold of one of his hands.

"Yeah, but it was all pretty intense. I was really worried I would mess up or something." Will said. Warren could feel Will tense up. He leaned forward slightly and kissed Will's forehead softly. "Warren..."

"Yeah?"

"What if I can't... What if I can't be as good as they expect me to be?"

"Will...You know that's crazy. You're gonna be an awesome hero one day."

"But how do you know?"

"Because. Because you always care, and you try your hardest and all that. And because one day I want you to be my partner and I don't fight with losers... so you must be good."

"I love you."

"I love you too tigerboy. Anyways, come on, its time to get up. I swear we've been in this tub for almost an hour now."

Will climbed out of the bath and wrapped a large white towel around his waist. He smiled as he watched Warren exiting the tub. Warren turned from Will, grabbing another towel. Will gasped slightly as he saw a large wound across the back of Warren's thigh. He fell to the floor immediately and got closer to the wound.

"Warren, what the hell is this?" Will yelled. He was angry, frightened for what could be happening.

"Oh, it's just a scratch." Warren said, waving his hand dismissively. In truth, it was something more serious. During one of his recent training sessions with Jen, she had gotten the better of him, and thrust her sword into the thigh of her opponent.

"Warren!"

Will sighed as his lover continued to towel off his wet body in silence. He knew he wouldn't get any more answers out of him, whether or not it was something more serious. He huffed and began to pull on his clothes faster, determined to find answers.

-

Zach's insides tensed. He knew he shouldn't be here, but the temptation was so intense, he was willing to take some risks. He zipped up his light yellow hooded jacket and pushed open the door of "The Last Resort", the roughest bar in Maxville. At first, he had felt surprised that nobody had carded him on his way in, but after pausing to think for a moment, he guessed it was because this wasn't your typical bar. "The Last Resort" wasn't really a bar for the regular kind of drunk. The clientele was mostly Super Villains and demonic figures usually seen in the movies. Sometimes, falling into a vat of toxic waste didn't make you a Hero. It made you something bad. Evil. It made you into a monster. The kind that frequented the bar Zach found himself in the middle of.

He scanned the room quickly, looking for Parker. His unease grew, when instead of seeing Parker, he saw only a tall, pale figure, staring at him and licking it's lips. He felt a heavy hand fall upon his shoulder. Zach wheeled around quickly.

"Jeeze Nightlight." Parker drawled heavily, smiling at Zach's discomfort "here really isn't the place to be jumpy."

"Right... I just don't come to these places."

"Maybe that's why you are the way you are." Parker replied, his sing song voice was beginning to get on Zach's nerves.

Parker turned away from Zach, his long black coat swishing as he did. He began to walk towards a door at the end of the bar, signaling for Zach to follow. Zach walked behind him, slowly, although just fast enough to keep up with Parker. He knew that if he got separated from him, things might not turn out so well.

Parker pushed open the door, grabbed Zach's jacket and pulled him in. He then slammed the heavy steel door behind them and pulled off his coat, chuckling at Zach's reaction to the room they were in.

"What is this place?" Zach asked, astonished at the room. The walls were painted pitch black, and shelves lined all four walls, leaving only the space for the door. Zach walked towards the shelves, stunned. They were packed full of bottles and jars, filled with different colored liquids and powders.

"It's a little room I rent out. Somewhere the rents wont find out what I'm really into."

'What's that?" Zach asked, turning to face Parker.

"Magic." Parker said quietly and breathily, as if the word should carry some great importance, which was evidently lost on Zach.

"Like tricks? Cuz I just thought you were gay..."

Parker groaned and shook his head. While dealing with people like Zach was something he did often, it still surprised him how stupid people could be. He ignored this comment and walked over to one of the shelves, pulling out a large jar filled with a yellow liquid. He poured a small amount of it into a shot glass, which he then handed to Zach.

"Drink up the Zach Attach." Parker said. He flopped down onto a chair and began to flick through a magazine, apparently uninterested in Zach.

"What is it?" He asked. His voice shook slightly as he raised the glass to his nose and sniffed. It had no smell, as far as he could tell.

'It's your power boost." Parker drawled quietly, lost in the article he was reading.

"Huh?"

Parker looked up from the magazine, flipped his fringe from his eyes and smiled "It's like a test of what you could have. Drink the shot and you get a taste of what I can do for you. It'll last a few minutes, and if you like it... wells, then we can come to a more permanent arrangement."

"I don't know man... What's in it?"

"Little bit of this and that..." Parker said nonchalantly, looking back at his magazine. "It's all good though"

Zach paused for another second, remembering back to when he was younger, and his parents had given him lengthy lectures about drinking strange things. Parker seemed to notice Zach's apprehension.

"Don't you wanna be like your friends?"

A moment later, Zach drank down the shot. He stood quietly, waiting for some kind of change. He began to feel a strange warmth, traveling down his throat, making his skin tingle. His hands began to shake, and when he looked down at them, he saw that the had began to glow, more intensely than ever before.

"Do you feel it?" Parker asked quietly "the change?"

"Yeah... What do I do now?" Zach asked, still shaking slightly.

"Close your eyes." Parker instructed, standing up from his chair and walking over to the now glowing teen. He put his hands on Zach's face. "Concentrate on your power, and relax."

Zach stood, breathing in and out slowly, trying to think only of his powers, although he was slightly uncomfortable with Parker being so close.

A moment later, Zach heard Parker gasp loudly, and he instantly opened his eyes. He scanned the room quickly.

"Nothing's changed." He said, his heart sinking in disappointment. Parker laughed and walked over to one of the shelves, pulling a long mirror from one of the shelves. He help it up to Zach's face.

Now it was Zach's turn to gasp. Before him, in the mirror was nothing. As he peered into it, all he could see was the door behind him.

"What's going on?" Zach asked, puzzled.

"Duh." Parker said, putting down the mirror. "You're invisible."

"But how?" Zach asked, moving over to Parker's chair and steadying himself. "I thought it was supposed to enhance the power I already have."

"Well, I'm no scientist, but I think it has something to do with the refraction of light. See, your power is to control light, and right now, you are changing the way if affects your physical being." Parker said "...or you know, whatever."

"...right. Yeah cool, fo' sure" Zach said, as he once again became visible, thinking of al of the things he could do with this new power.

"So how do you like it?" Parker asked

"uh.. it's cool. So, something more permanent?" Zach asked "what would I have to do for you?"

"All I need is a tiny favor. I just need you to give a message to Warren, ok sweetie?" Parker said, as a malicious smile spread across his face, his heart racing in anticipation.

-

AN: Ahhh, I know this was like forever, but oh my gosh my life has been busy. My best friend moved to Auckland to go in the navy, my boss went missing, meaning I was working 60 hour weeks and my mates brother killed himself, so stress levels have been high.

But god I missed this story! Hope y'all enjoy it. I'm probably gonna rap this story up soon, and then I have a few ideas for a series looking at Warren's past a little more.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12:

"Warren what the hell is goin' on here?" Will asked, grabbing hold of Warrens wrist. He used his full strength to pull Warren closer to him, inspecting the large slash on Warren's upper arm. Warren jerked his arm away and turned from Will.

"It's nothing Will. Can we just let it go?"

"No. No Warren we can't just left it go." Will said, and paused for a moment "Not anymore."

"Maybe it's non of your business Will, did you ever think about that!" Warren yelled, moving closer to Will, his hands curled tightly into fists. Will had been at him since they had gotten out of the bath, inspecting every one of his wounds from Jen and interrogating him over them. He was beginning to get very tired of it. Warren flinched when he saw the look in Will's eyes. He was frightened. Warren backed away and brought his hands to his face. The silence enveloped them both, until Will began to speak again.

"Yes it is." He said quietly, a look of steely resolve taking over his face "You are my business baby. Cuz I love you... you know I worry."

"Look it's nothing Will. Just some scratches from training."

"With who?"

"Nobody."

The silence took over again. Warren hated keeping secrets from Will. That was one of the things that ruined the relationship between his parents. Before his father had gone fully bad, they still had problems. Warren had many memories of his parents fighting, mostly over the secrets his father kept. He didn't want to do that to Will.

"Ok. Here's what's been going on..."

-

"This is good." Layla said, smiling up at Scott. Her head rested on his chest and she felt safe and happy for the first time in forever, carefully listening to the sound of his heart, feeling his chest rising and falling with each breath. It was moments like this that Layla enjoyed the most, quietly enjoying the company of someone special. They sat together on Scott's bed, "_Ever After_" playing on the tv.

She hadn't been happy for a long time, but she had learned to hide it, and as far as most of her friends were concerned, she was the same old Layla. But beneath all the smiles and fun, she was a different person since Will left her. She had cried at first, but after a while, she stopped, because that was what people expected. But in truth, the pain hadn't gone away. The boy she had loved for as long as she could remember, had left her, and for Warren Peace.

Layla tried to understand, and stick with Will. In her head, she knew it was nothing personal, and that he would always love her in some way. She knew that Will couldn't help being gay. She knew it wasn't a choice. But still it hurt.

And then Scott came along. She looked up at him again, leaning in for a kiss. She knew that he really did love her. For always.

-

"Warren, this is nuts." Will said, running his hands through his hair. Warren had just finished his account of what had happened over the past few weeks.

"Yeah I know." Warren said, avoiding Will's gaze by staring at the flame tattoo's covering his wrists.

"Why didn't you tell me baby?" Will asked. He sat down on the bed next to Warren and stroked his hair, playing fondly with the red streaks.

"How could I Will?" Warren asked, looking Will in the eyes for the first time, tears welling up in his eyes "I've already screwed things up enough. With your parents and friends, Ethan, and always getting you hurt all the time, when these things come after me."

Will took Warren's face in his hands, looking deeply into his eyes "Is that what you think? That everything that's happened is your fault?"

"Isn't it?"

"No Warren. Non of this is your fault. Yeah, they come after you, but it's not as if you entice it. And when something comes after you, it comes after both of us. Right?"

"You would be much safer without me Will"

"Probably. But I would rather have a dangerous life with the guy I love than live safely on my own."

Warren sobbed slightly, a tear falling from his eye. "I wanted to tell you."

"And from now on, you will right?"

"Yeah." he said, wiping his eyes. "I promise."

Will pulled Warren against his chest, holding him tightly until he felt his fall asleep.

-

AN: Short but sweet. I'm in the process of reading all of my other work up until this point, since its hard for me to remember whats happened lol. This story is almost done. one, maybe two more chapters, and its wrapped. so expect some long ones, and some action coming up.

I do sort of know whats gonna happen at the end of this one, and I dont know if im gonna do another, since its getting harder and harder. Im gonna be really busy with a novel writing course. But I really wanna write a Warren story, going into his history more, and brining it right up until meeting Will. I may even include his parents before the had warren... Im not sure, would anyone read my account of Warren growing up?

p.s I chose ever after for the movie they were watching, since the guy i loved before my life went wrong once said to me "trust me, nobodys going to be looking at your feet" when I showed him what I was wearing to the school ball (after I just discovered my socks had sparkles) and now whenever that line comes up, it makes me cry.


	13. Chapter 13

-1Chapter 13:

"Warren!" Zach yelled, banging on the door of his house. It had been two days since his meeting with Parker at the bar, and he has twice since been given a taste of power. It was a power he couldn't bear to be without, and he knew what he must do to get it. He had his orders. As he heard Warren approach the door, he quickly pulled a knife from his pocket, and before giving himself time to think it over, stabbed it quickly into his leg, slicing through muscle along his thigh. He pulled out the knife, and threw it into the garden, only moments before Warren reached the door.

"He...Oh my God Zach?" Warren yelled, grabbing hold of his friend, who was now sitting on the porch, his own blood staining his clothes. "What the hell happened? We need to get you to a doctor."

"No!" Zach yelled. "We need to go. Its ok, I'm ok. But they have Will"

Warren felt fear twist a knot in his stomach, but he shook the feeling away quickly. He didn't have time to panic.

"We should get the others. Someone strong enough to hurt Will..."

"There isn't time!" Zach said "He's going to kill him."

"Who is?"

"We have to go now." Zach yelled, his face turning paler by the second. He tried to look afraid, and with the amount of blood now pouring from his wound, but at the same time, he knew Parker would fix him up right away. As soon as he got Warren to him.

Warren sighed and ran his hands through his hair, before turning and grabbing his sword from behind the door. He put on a mask of resolve and shut the door behind him. He had to save Will, before anything happened.

"Let's go then"

-

"In there!" Zach said, pointing to the door of a warehouse nearby. The trip had been quick, only taking them a few minutes to get from Warren's home. Warren ran towards the door, and as he reached it, he lifted his leg to kick it down. The door flew away from the wall, splintering into smaller pieces as it hit the ground.

"Will!" He yelled, the veins in his neck bulging. He ignited his arms, ready to inflict huge amounts of pain upon whoever tried to get in his way. Will was one person his was not going to lose, no matter what it cost him.

"Will!" He yelled again "where are you?"

Warren turned suddenly as he felt a wisp of a breeze pass across his neck. For a moment, he saw nothing, until the fist reached forward to punch him. He fell to the floor in surprise, realizing his opponent.

"What the hell?" Warren said, getting to his feet "What's going on?"

"I'm sorry." Zach spoke up in a quite voice, his eyes never wavering from the figure standing by his side, ready to strike Warren again.

"Zach." Warren said slowly "What's going on? What did you do?"

"I... I didn't." Zach stuttered nervously. He was visibly shaking, and his leg wound was beginning to look worse and worse. He sat down on one of the many wooden crates that littered the warehouse floor.

"Zach!"

Warren's opponent moved forward again, smiling this time, ready for action."

"How?" Warren yelled, staring ahead at the figure of his dead father. Although it was no question that this was Barron Battle standing before him, Warren stood perplexed.

"Hello son." Barron Battle said calmly, while striking out at Warren. The blow connected with the stunned Warren. He flew through the air, landing a few meters away, in a heap on top of some crates. He tried to stand, but instead sank into darkness.

-

"Well, see that's what I thought, but no, it turns out you can't charge batteries by rubbing them on your hair." Layla said as she walked down the street with Will.

The pair were on their way to Warren's house, after spending a long afternoon at the mall shopping for the perfect outfit to impress Scott. Layla had definitely gotten used to Will being gay, and had used every opportunity to drag him away shopping.

"Damn, and after all of those painful hours of research." Will said, smiling at Layla, who promptly gave him a shove that was just forceful enough to make him walk into a nearby bush.

"Ha ha, William Stronghold, I do believe you are mocking me"

"Yeah, but it's fun isn't it?" Will said, wrinkling his nose.

They had reached the start of the footpath, leading to Warren's home. Will stopped, opened the flap of the mailbox and pulled out the small bundle of letters inside.

"Oh my god." Layla said

"What?"

"You get Warrens mail?" She said, grabbing hold of Will around the waist "that is just so cute."

"Well prepare for a shocker." Will said, and began searching inside his bag. He pulled out a small key chain with two keys on it, one to his home, and the other to Warren's.

"Will." Layla said quietly, holding him slightly

"Yeah yeah, too cute I know, but..."

"...Will." Layla interrupted, causing him to look up from his keys, and see what she was looking at

"I don't think we need a key."

In front of them, Warren's doorstep was covered with blood, and the door had been left open slightly.

-

" You thought I would let you do that to me?" Parker said, as he strolled around Warren's limp body.

Warren stood in the center of the room, his arms chained above him, and his bare chest covered in blood. His hair was wet with sweat, and hung across his eyes. Parker pushed his fringe behind his ears and smiled maliciously.

"I knew you were under all that hair somewhere." He said "you know you really brought this upon yourself. I wanted us to be friends."

Parker grabbed a knife from the nearby table.

"We could have had so much...fun." He said, savoring the last word as he pushed the blade down onto Warren's chest. "But no, you had to be a fool didn't you?"

Parker pressed down harder, the knife slicing the skin of Warren's chest, his blood, dripping down the handle of the knife, and over Parkers hand. Warren threw his head back, and let out an animalistic groan.

"Parker!" Barron Battle said warningly. Warren looked up above him, to where his father stood upon the catwalk suspended above the factory floor, watching over them.

"You said I could play!" Parker huffed.

'And you can...just, go easy. We wanna make this last don't we?"

Parker smiled and walked over to a chair. He sat down quickly, staring at Warren still. "You're right!"

Warren took this opportunity to look around him. The warehouse was small, and looked like it hadn't been used in years. The chains that bound his arms were thick, too thick for him to break. Zach sat by the door, shaking still. Parker had fixed his wound, with some kind of incantation that Warren partially saw when he was waking up. Next to Zach was the sword he had brought with him.

There was no escape. Warren knew he would die here, in this warehouse, by his father's hands.

"You're right Warren." His father said suddenly. Warren's head whipped up to look at him. "I will kill you. And then I will kill your... Boyfriend"

Barron Battle shuddered at the word.

"No." Warren said "He will come for me. And I will kill you. Again."

"Oh really. And what makes you so sure?"

"Because he loves me."

"How adorable." Parker said, while making vomiting motions "could I hurt him now?"

"Go ahead." Barron Battle said "Oh and Warren, you're wrong you know. He won't come."

-

Will and Layla stood inside Warrens living room, shocked by the lack of destruction in the room. Warren was nowhere to be seen.

Will walked out the front door, followed closely by Layla "Will..."

He walked over to the garage door and pulled it open. Inside, Warren's mothers car sat, collecting dust. Nobody had used it since the last time Warren's mother had come home, but the keys still sat in the ignition.

"Will. No. You don't have a license; you could get us killed." Layla pleaded. "And you don't even know where he is."

"No, I don't, but I know somebody who can help." He said, as he got into the car, slamming the door shut. He wound down the window. "And the driving thing? I would fly, but I can't fly with these."

He nodded to the back seat where a bunch of assorted weapons were sitting.

"Warren's Mom traveled safely I guess."

"What if you crash?"

"I'm not asking you to come Layla."

She stood for a moment, weighing it up, before running to the passenger seat and getting in.

"So where we headed?"

"The Paper Lantern."

-

AN: Ahh, this took so long to write. I'm a bad bad person. I hope people still read this, cuz its nearing its exciting conclusion. Love ya's Dylan.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

The black "lovebug" that had belong to Mrs. Peace screeched along the center line in the road as Will tore around a corner at speed. Layla held the sides of her seat so tightly that her fingers were beginning to cramp.

"The Plaper Lantern?" Layla yelled "Why?"

"We have to pick something up" Will said slowly, focusing on the road. Driving in a panic was harder than it seemd in car chase movies "or, someone to be exact"

"Who?"

"One of Warren's friends."

"Warren has friends that arn't us?" Layla asked, smiling slightly at the joke, trying to ignore the feeling of dread rising in his stomach, both from the scene at Warrens house, and Will's driving.

"I know. It's weird. Her names Jen and she's strong... and I think a little psychic."

"Psychic?"

"Warren says she can sense things. That she sensed something bad was about to go down. Maybe she can help us find him."

With the Paper Lantern in sight, Will pushed down on the break, hard enough to make Layla jerk forward in her seat. He flew open the door and raced inside, leaving Layla with the car.

"Jen!" Will yelled, causing customers to turn and stare. He paused breifly to smile nervously, imagining how much of a wreck he must look, before quickly running to the kitchen. "Mrs. Lee?"

"Who are you?" Said a voice that caused Will to turn slightly. The girl was beautiful, even in the grey sweatpants and loose black shirt she was wearing. It had to be her.

"Jen?" Will asked

"Yeah... but we still arn't any closer to discovering who you are, are we?"

"I'm Will Stronghold, Warren's boyfriend."

Jen's attitude seemed to change immediatly, back into ditzy school girl. "Oh my god you two would be, like, the cutest couple."

"Are you sure your a warrior and not a cheerleader?" Will asked. His nerves were fraying, and his stomach seemed to clench tighter with every passing minute.

"Both actually." She said as Will began to lead her towards the exit. "Where are we going?"

"I was kinda hoping you could tell me. Warren's in trouble, and I need you to help me find him."

They walked outside towards the car, where Layla had already gotten into the back seat. They got in quickly, and Will started the motor.

"I do feel something... but we need to get some weapons first."

"Got it covered." Will said, nodding his head in the direction of the weapons in the back.

"We're fighting with Greenpeace now?"

"Huh?" Will asked. His brain really wasnt up to banter "Oh... this is Layla"

"And these..." Said Layla, partially removing the cover she had placed over the weapons "Are what we're fighting with."

"Awesome." Jen said, turning back to the front "Then let's go. He's near his home somewhere. And near water."

"The wearhouses at the docks?" Layla asked "That's not too far from Warren's."

-

Warren shook his head in an attempt to get the long black strands of hair away from his face. It had been about an hour since he had followed Zach into the wearhouse, and come face to face with his father. Again.

"God." He thought to himself dryly "How often am I going to have to kill this guy?"

His brain was beginning to catch up with the events of the evening, and he was starting to worry more and more. From what he could gather from their conversations, Parker had used some blend of magic and science to regenerate his father. Why? The only reason Warren could come up with was that he was a psycho, pure and simple.

"Warren." His father said quietly, looking at his watch "Is this boy of yours likely to show up any time soon? It's just I have a lot of plans to start, and you know..."

"Enlighten me, please?" Warren said sarcastically. He had decided that either he would die, or Will would save him, so there was no point being polite. Barron battle quirked one eyebrow in amusement.

"Well, you killed me remember? So I figure, if I kill the boy, then I torture you and get revenge on the Strongholds in one clean shot." He said, walking towards Warren, his face only inches away "Except... it's not gonna be clean. It's gonna hurt. a lot... that is if he ever bothers to come for you."

Warren remained silent, listening to his father rant. This man, whom he had wished to know better, was nothing more than a psychotic fool.

"Gotta tell you War, I'm not suprised really, that you turned out the way you did. I guess most would balme it on the lack of a father figure... but no. Some people were just born wrong."

"You know I really really beleive that." Warren said "Some people are."

Barron Battle strode away from Warren quickly, and over to where Parker was sitting, stronking Zach's hair. Zach, meanwhile, was looking off into the distance, as though he wasn't aware of what was happening around him. He was in shock.

"Hey Zach!" Warren called out, finally giving the feeling of betrayal he felt a voice "What did they promise you? Did you kill me for a good price?"

Zach remaind motionless, lost in the tangle of his mind.

"You know you're not gonna have a happy ending in this one." Warren yelled.

-

"There!" Jen yelled, pointing to one of the large, grey wearhouses. "He's in that one."

Will put his foot down on the gas harder.

"Will!" Layla yelled "The brake is the other one."

Will ignored her and continued driving, until the crashed into the tin wall that surrounded the door, plowing straight through it. The long sheets of metal flew off in different directions, clattering to the ground with a noise barely audiable over the noise the engine was making, with smoke billowing from under the hood. Will, Jen and Layla climbed out of the wrecked car, looking dazed, but unharmed mostly.

"Will!" Warren called. "I'm over here!"

Will was moving in an instant. He ran across the floor of the wearhouse, narrowly avoiding an attack of fireballs from Barron Battle. As he tried to break through the steel holding Warren up, he glanced across to Layla and Jen. Jen was fiercly attacking Barron Battle, throwing punches left and right. Will flinched as he saw Warren's father hit her sharply across the face with a flaiming fist. Layla too was holding her own, with a long strech of vine that came through the hole they had made in the wall held Parker tightly in place.

"Will..." Warren pleaded "hurry."

"Almost...there!" Will cried as the steel finally gave and Warren fell to the floor in a heap, just as Barron Battle Picked Jen up. There was a sharp crack that echoed through the wearhouse, and for a moment, everyone was silent as they watched the life quickly drain from her body, until she was as limp as a rag doll. He threw Jen into Layla, pushing both of them into a crate nearby. The force of the two bodies caused more crates to fall ontop of them, knocking Layla out.

Barron Battle looked worse for wear, Blood trickling from his broken nose, and both eyes already looking puffy frm Jen's many hits. As he moved towards Warren and Will, he visable flinched and grabbed his ribs.

"Fuck." He yelled, Backing away again, towards parker. He burned off the vines, releasing Parker from the hold.

"No." Warren said groggily, getting to his feet. His father, grabbing onto Parker, ran towards the door. "This isn't over!"

"You know it's not son." He said, and the pair dissappeard in an instant, flying quickly into the air on Parker's back, Barron Battle turned for one last look.

"Warren, are you ok?" Will said. He held him tightly for a second, releif flooding his body when Warren nodded that he was fine.

"Jen." Warren called. "Oh my god. She's..." His voice cracked.

"We need to get out of here Warren."

"But... Jen. He killed her."

"I know. And we will make him pay, but right now we need to get you and Layla to a hospital." Will said urgently. Warren leaned on Will for support for a moment, before walking on his own shakey feet. Will picked Layla up slowly, careful to avoid moving her neck, although she was already coming to. He placed her on the backseat of the car.

"What about him." Warren said, nodding towards Zach, who sat still in the corner. Will looked suprised, having not seen Zach until now.

"Why is he here?"

"He lead me to them. Said they had you."

Will's mind raced. Zach had betrayed them?

"First we get to the hospital, then I will call my parents. They can sort this out."

-

Later, in the hospital, Layla stood beside Warren and kissed him on the forehead, before leaving with her mom, as quickly as possible, before being scorched by Warren's glare. Hurt or not, he still wasn't gonna get cute.

Will and Warren had just finished telling their accounts of what had happend to Will's parents, who had gone to find Zach, and for the first time since they attack, they were alone together. Will kissed Warren lightly on the head.

"I thought I was gonna lose you tonight baby." Will said, placing his hand on Warren's chest.

"But then you saved the day. The whole time, he was telling me how pathetic I was, how it was over for me." Warren said, looking into Will's eyes, as he felt tears welling in his own. "But I knew you would come for me. I knew you would find me."

"I'm always gonna come for you. I love you. More than anything in this world."

"I love you too Will. Before I met you...My life was nothing. But you make me so happy... and you make me feel safe." Warren said. He rested his head on Will's shoulder for a moment before standing up straight and tugging on his leather jacket akwardly. "Lets go home."

-

A:N - Ok one more wrapping up chapter, but it will be open for more later, and then im starting on my Warrens history kinda story. Enjoy.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15.

"Thank you very much officer." Mrs. Stronghold said, smiling warmly at the officer that had come to take statments from Will and Warren. The super police were looking for Barron Battle right now, but Josie knew he would be far away this time. Waiting to strike again.

"Mom?" Will called from the top of the stairs.

"Will. How is he?"

"He's kinda shaken up. Quiet." Will said, hanging his head. After the hospital, Warren had come home with Will and gone straight to bed, refusing to speak. "I guess the shock was kinda delayed"

"That poor boy." Josie said, before joining Will at the top of the stairs. She sat down next to him and wrapped her arm around his shoulders "Did he say anything to you at all?"

"On the ride home, nothing. But just before... He got a little upset." Will said. He exhaled loudly "I don't know what to do mom. I wanna make things better for him... for both of us. But, it's so hard. Everything just keeps stacking up, and now I have no idea how to make him feel better."

"Just be with him honey." His mother said softly, leaning in to hug her son. "Just let him know how much you love him. Things will get better."

-

"Warren?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry... about everything."

"It's not your fault Stronghold."

"I know... I just wish things could be different."

"Me too."

The two boys lay in the dark of Will's bedroom. The had been silent for a while, and it was a releif when one of the spoke, breaking the tangiable silence.

Warren snaked his arms around Will's waist and tugged him closer, snuggling his nose into Will's hair. He sighed.

"But... I have you right?" Warren asked

"Always"

-

The next day at school, crowds of students followed the pair, especially Warren. He supposed he should have been used to it by now, but it had been a little while since he had been the focus of everybodys attention. Roumers spread of what had happened, mostly completely false. Warren laughed slightly, imagining the conversation topic over the tables at lunch. Peace family reunions. Never good.

Warren sat down at his usual place at lunch, dropping his heavy bag down beside him noisily. At the table, only four of them remained. Will, Warren, Layla and Majenta all sat quietly, each barely looking at each other, and each thinking the same thoughts. The four of them had received news of Zach earlier that morning. He had been taken to a hospital for supers. One that was specially designed to deal with superheros that had gone into shock in the way Zach had. The most the knew was that the "power boost" given to Zach by Parker was a rare and mystical plant extract, which, among other things, caused insanity.

They knew they would never see him again.

"No Scott today?" Warren asked, his voice a low grumble

"No... He uh, he thought the four of u might like some time together." Layla said, akwardly as she shifted her salad around her plate, hoping nobody would notice she wasn't eating.

"That's nice of him." Will said.

"Yeah." Majenta chimed in. She looked tired. Her hair was a mess and her eyes were puffy, which nobody would mention.

It all felt so wrong.

-

After the school bell rang, and the busses had left, Warren and Will stood at the edge of the school, watching the clouds and the city below. Warren stood behind Will, with his arms around his lovers waist.

"What now?" Will asked

"Hmm?"

"I mean, we have Jen's funeral tomorrow, and then what?"

"I guess we just carry on like normal."

"But how?" Will said, turning to face Warren. His eyes were wet with tears, and they seemd to plead with the fireboy to find an answer. Warren leaned in, kissed him softly on the forehead and smiled slightly.

"Life's a show."

- THE END-

AN: So, I was going for a fragmented kinda feel to that. Anyone else who has had a big shock like this will know what I mean. The feeling where time melts together, and everything is a little less clear. I hope that came across. I think the writing style for this last chapter is quite cold, and isn't very comforting, but thats the way I thought the characters would feel.

Thats it. The end. I will probably do more in this series one day, but as you know, im gonna work on a prequel-type thing... Warren's background. Should be fun.

Love to you all, and thanks for reading & reviewing.

Dylan Stratus


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